Post on 01-Nov-2014
description
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations
Alisa BonsignoreClarifying Complex Ideas
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
How to stop apologizing,
say “no” tactfully, and know when to shut up and
listen
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“But Mom…”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityImage courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityImage courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
My business
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Via ThisIsIndexed.com
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“Independent years”
8 x 7 = 56
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityAARP.com
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityAARP.com
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Client relations
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
It’s a lot like sex
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
You don’t know what
you’re doing
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
You assume that everyone
else knows more than you
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
You don’t know how to ask for what
you need
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
You feel awkward
saying “no”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
More experience
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
confidence?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
CONFIDENCE
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
experience
success confidence
value
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly in the beginning.”
- childhood friend
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
My first time
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
My first projects
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Billed hourly
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Extremely apologetic
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
<20% of market rate
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
And I apologized
for it
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Why?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Too many nights and weekends
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Terrified that I’d be
“caught”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Underpriced=
Undervalued
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Who is in control?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“You may say to yourself, my god,
what have I done?”
- Talking HeadsOnce in a Lifetime
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
2008: 2 years in business
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Client from hell
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“I wish I knew what they
know.”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
I lacked follow-through
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Contract?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Accountant?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Logo?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Website?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Marketing message?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“Exploration is what you do
when you don’t know what
you’re doing.”- Neil deGrasse Tyson
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Two great revelations:
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
1. Others make
mistakes
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
2. You can fire clients
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“10% of nothin’... let me do the math here... nothin’ into
nothin’, carry the nothin’....”- Jayne Cobb
Firefly
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanityhttp://detectivejane.tumblr.com/image/1046616222
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
http://gnomercy.org/event/calling-all-achievers-the-big-lebowski/
“New shit has come to light, man.”
- The Dude
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“No.”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Trial and error
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Lots of error
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
We learn from our mistakes
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 1: Talking too
much
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 2: Apologizing
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 3:Saying “yes”
instead of “no”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 4:Answering the
phone
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 5: Billing hourly
vs. per project
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Mistake 6: Thinking
you’re alone
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Results
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityImage courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Gets better every year
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Learn from colleagues
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Surrounded by an amazing
network
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Asking the Tough
Questions
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“You can’t always get what you want.
But if you try sometimes, you
might find you get what you need.”
- The Rolling Stones
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The tough stuff
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
More time
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Better terms
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
More money
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The most magical item
of all: the retainer
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityImage courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Take a step back
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
How much money should you ask for?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
How much money
do you need?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Rule of thumb:gross = 2x net
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
How many hours per
week?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
40 working hours
25 billable
• work you can charge for
15 non-billable
• marketing• IT • contracts• proposals• blogging• reading
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
How many weeks per
year?
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
52 weeks- 2 weeks for federal holidays (down
to 50)- 2 more for vacation (down to 48)- Random school holidays (46 or
fewer)- Days that the kids are sick (< 45)
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
48 weeks x 25 billable hours/week
1,200 billable hours/year
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
$100,000/year ÷
1,200 hours
$84/hour
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Lifehacker:Value of your time
http://is.gd/Pq6MDZ
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Solid financial basis
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Tough stuff #1:
Time
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Establish turnaround times and deadlines
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“We need that tomorrow morning.”
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Breathing room
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Contract terms
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
More money
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Know the marketplace
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The easy way:Flat rate
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The hard way:Hourly
increase
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Ease into it
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The holy grail:Retainers
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your SanityImage courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Know thy client
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
The tougher the client, the shorter
the timeframe
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”
- Will Rogers
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
I want you to talk to me
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Tweetup Tonight
8:00-12:00Bliss/ReBAR
901 N. 4th
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriter #stc14 Saving Your Sanity
ClarifyingComplexIdeas.com
WhatWouldBettyDo.com
alisa@ClarifyingComplexIdeas.com